"Are you telling me there's another cast of young gods bound to this planet? My planet."
"And one god has even meddled in the affairs of my world while I was away. Along with slandering my name and killing my devout... Oh my; there will certianly be hell to pay, that's for sure."
~~~
"The Great Ones have arisen! End times are upon us! Praise the old gods!" Cried a youthful clergyman as Elora passed by, hoping to memorize the town's layout.
"Oh shut up pastor! You're going to scare away the only real customer I've had all week!" Shouted an unhappy innkeeper while running down to greet Elora.
"Hey!" Aren'tcha even going to look at me, I've got the best prices on this side of town!" Pitched the homely looking innkeeper.
"No." Declined Elora as she denied all advances the woman was willing to make.
"Make sure to at least stop by! Please! I haven't had a customer in weeks!" Pleaded the inkeep, her shouts falling on deaf ears.
"What a waste of time. I've seen no signs of bandits anywhere, even after walking around this godforsaken town for hours. The bandits they so claim must be nothing but village folktale."
"I really will have to talk to the queen about sending me off on pointless missions like this. It's beginning to get on my nerves." Scowles Elora as she begins to head back to the capital.
Little does she know however, that there may be more to the villagers superstitions than meets the eye. Elora is about to find out the hard way.
~~~
"Of the burning rite, for the true gods, we beg for your power to kill the chosen of Denair; to throw his head on a pike!" Prayed the acolytes as each of them slit the throat of their virgin sacrifice, letting the blood drip into The Sacred Chalice.
"Grant your boon upon our greatest, your most faithful servants; allow your marks to brand their faces in your servitude!" Inacantated the devotees while seventeen Most Faithful stepped up, and drank from the crimson filled chalice.
That is how the thirteen were born as candidates of the new gods, for the other four's faith wavered; and were reduced to ash.
~~~
"So... they thought you better as a royal guards member, the queen is sure amassing quite a few of those these days; I guess your talent showed." Sighed Craigen as he looked over at the giddy faced Chosen One with a letter of recommendation in his hands.
"Do well not to forget about me... about all of us, you've come a long way, but you can still go higher with the amazing power you hold inside you; it's been growing strong of late... hasn't it?"
~~~
"What... you say the bandits haven't been stealing goods, only people, this sounds like a bigger issue than the queen made it out to be; shit." Swore Elora while offering a quick thanks to the farner before leaving for a distant hill.
"Bandits stealing people, fuck, has it begun again so soon; the world is indeed changing right before my eyes." Grumbled Elora as she sat down on a medium sized rock, and began sharpening her blade in between mixed muttering of curses, and pleas.
~~~
*𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭: Find the ancient treasure hidden in The Forgotten Ossuary to have any chance of surviving the upcoming threat, either that or beg to Denair for them to make you their champion... of which will fail miserably.
"What?" "I don't know what you're talking about, but I got a grave to dig; and a prayer to recite that I won't see you on the other side!" Laughed Imogen as she playfully threw her makeshift shovel at Clarence, hitting him directly in the nose.
*𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫: This is no game, this is serious; to your Southeast there's a spiralling tomb that leads down to the artifact you need to have a chance of surviving
"Who says I want to survive, I just want to live now, your past words of wisdom have struck me deep; and I no longer fancy this adventurous journey." Suspired Imogen while watching Clarence attempt to catch up with her, but sadly he just isn't fast enough to catch her.
*𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭: This is about more than just you, call me a hypocrite if you will; but you will be more important to other people than you could ever realize. I understand that you deserve to live the life you want to, everyone does... but a lot lies on your shoulders; do you realize that?
"Haha, I was just giving you crap, system, of course I still want to be an adventurer; what the hell would I ever do living an ordinary life... make potions!" Chortled Imogen while unexpectedly spinning around, and grabbing Clarence by the arm before running off to get Auden.
~~~
"So... Do you like the tea? I used to make it all the time in life, it's one of the few things I still remember about it... an old family recipe." Smiled Auden as he watched the yet undescribed, and unnamed green haired woman down a cup of tea in one gulp.
"No, it burns my mouth; I suppose it must be an... acquired taste." Grimaced the former worm while handing the tea cup back to Auden, of which had somehow not gotten broken during his several fights.
"I think you would have a different opinion if you were... more patient, already acting like the other headache I know." Groaned Auden as he spotted Imogen on the horizon with Clarence in tow.
"Okay, now let's try this again, but this time... let the tea cool down first; please." Begged Auden while handing the refilled tea cup back to the green haired lady with vigor.
~~~
"I really need to get moving, if I don't act fast, more people may die on my watch... or at least get kidnapped; but I doubt they're going to any secret celebratory birthday parties." Frowned Elora as she pushed herself off the rock, and stretched out her limbs.
"The problem is I don't know where to start, I looked around for hours, and couldn't find any trace of theft; or violence."
"Maybe the villagers will have some sort of clue, I probably should've asked the first time, but it didn't really seem as important back then." Admitted Elora while feeling as though she really had changed since she took up the mantle of royal guard.
"People, people, people... you love them and you hate them; life in a nutshell."
~~~
"Hi'ya Auden, are you having a tea party without me, that makes me kind of sad you know." Grinned Imogen as she moved past Auden and picked the green haired woman up by the hair to look her in the eyes.
"I hate worms, so you better be useful, or else you might find that you'll kick the bucket a little bit too soon." Snarled Imogen, her friendly demeanor seeming like a distant dream now.
"I see Auden has already provided you with clothes, that's nice of him, he's a nice guy; but I'm not!" Snapped Imogen while dropping the expressionless green haired woman unto the sand below.
"Now let's get moving, team. We head Southeast to The Forgotten Ossuary, if we hurry we might get there by tomorrow; so pick up the pace!" Spat Imogen as Auden, and Clarence ran off to grab their things.
The green haired woman just sat their upon the sand, the sun slightly gleaming off her pale face, of which had intricate markings of the old gods carved into her head; and a radiant figure standing on the center of her forehead shining brightly seemingly all on it's own.
Her green hair was more dark like the jade of this world, seeming strangely out of place in comparison with the rest of her, her clothes were old and rugged; but all Auden could spare. They barely fit, and were tied together with a belt to tighten them onto her body; strange to see on such a woman.
Although she didn't look like such, she was still pregnant with a child of an unknown father… a duke.
"Get up, I'll see to it that you're never slacking, go help Auden gather his possessions; he'll need it." Commanded Imogen as the jade haired woman silently got up, and left towards Auden without a word.
"So system, what's so important about this artifact anyways; and why is it only important now?"
*𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: Well, it's a complicated matter, time is running out... and well you'll need that artifact. Before it was too risky, but now any risk is better than imminent death; I think you'll agree Imogen
"Why do have to be so darn cryptic system, just tell me outright, it's not like it's going to hurt anyone; you and your dumb games."
*𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: You're wrong, it would hurt people, you for the most part as your body would receive it without the proper tempering; that's why the level up system exists in the first place... idiot
"I can't be too angry at you actually, as what you just said answered a question without giving me more questions for the first time since I met you." Cackled Imogen while watching her three companions walk up to her with their bags neatly packed.